A Green Competitor To The Iea

January 21, 2009

Given the country's environmental tendencies, it comes as somewhat of a surprise that Great Britain has
refused to sign on with the International
Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), a new organization
promoting a global transition to renewable energy that's set to launch
on Monday. IRENA, which already boasts some 80
member countries—including the oil-rich United
Arab Emirates—describes itself as the "first intergovernmental organisation to
solely concentrate on renewable energy and offer support to
industrialised and
developing countries alike."

These goals, though, set the group apart
from the far more prominent International Energy Agency (IEA), an organization open solely to OECD countries that deals in both conventional (oil, coal, nuclear)
and
renewable energy alike. Some critics say the IEA is unduly biased toward the former: The agency recently came under fire from the Berlin-based Energy Watch Group for publishing "misleading" statistics about the generative
potential of renewable energy sources. But the IEA still has plenty of sway with Number 10 Downing, and is skeptical about the new organization—which may explain why Britain has yet to sign on. The big prize for IRENA, meanwhile, would be getting the United States aboard—the question is whether the Obama administration would be just as reluctant to offend the IEA.